Not happy with this, but I’ve been sitting on it for a week or so and keep tweaking it. Rather than waste another week on it, I thought I’d post and ask for advice.

Maybe it’s just one of those “turd” shots. I still find it hard to be objective about my photographs and so spend hours lovingly crafting a waste of time – I know, if it’s fun it doesn’t really matter.

As photography books go, it’s quite lightweight. Aimed at beginners, it provides tips and techniques ranging from filters through composition and it’s all written in a light hearted approach with a few attempts at comedy.

It’s not a traditional book, in that it doesn’t really evolve from one section to another, instead it acts as something between a quick reference and a fact book. It’s this approach that works well – even though a lot of the tips are things I know (and have even blogged about) I keep stumbling upon useful little titbits or new thoughts about old ideas. As a fact book, it’s easy to pick up, read a page or a section and put it down with no need to remember where you left off last time. It’s also very engaging and you find yourself reading tip after tip or considering those failed photographs in light of the things you now know.

If I was allowed a bookshelf in the bathroom, it would be perfect for those moments when you want to stimulate your mind while nature is stimulating your…

(Edit: Typically, I somehow managed to mess up the book link. Hopefully it’s corrected now!)

I’m playing around with photoshop again, thanks to a book a friend (yes, the turd commenter) loaned me. I’ll discuss the book in more detail another time, for now I just want to show you the impact of some of its suggested workflow.

Original Image

Final Image

I’m kind of curious what people think. Does the final image work better than the original?

Now at the time, these pictures caused dissention, slit families, drove wedges between nation states…. (OK, a friend in work and I disagreed about whether they were any good). But since I liked it, I decided to use it for the competition.

But, being one of natures fiddlers and having seen some amazing stuff by a local photographer called Stephen McWilliams I decided to see if I could improve on it.

Here’s my new version:

Essentially, there were changes to contrast and vibrance, as well as an edit in photoshop to perform the selective colour element.

I quite like it, but my friend (yes, I too am amazed I can call him that after he was rude about the original) made the immortal comment -

This was the first holiday I’ve ever tried using an SLR in snowy conditions. The temptation for the camera to over expose was really compounded by the fact I was wearing sunglasses a lot and so when reviewing pictures they always looked dark.

One of the interesting challenges on this trip was definitely shooting pictures from inside a dogsled while rattling along a really bumpy trail.

Here’s one example

(Oh, and for reference. These dogs don’t stop when they need to piddle or poop – they just kind of go on the run. So, if you’re ever in this position, make sure you watch out for flying poop!)

Yesterday I mentioned the animals in Elk Island being happy to pose. Well, none more so than this little chap.

When we spotted him in the tree, we all jumped on cameras thinking it would be the shot of a second. But, I kid you not, this little guy was still hanging around and posing 5 minutes later.

In fact, I’d swear when we turned away he started complaining!

Here’s a few other shots.

Oh, the little white flecks on his coat aren’t issues with the camera, they’re little snowflakes – there was still a lot around. I may clone them out if I print one of these though as out of context they are a little detracting.

And no, I don’t think he would have let me brush him down…

(Oh, I was told this was a Red Squirrel. In the absence of other contradictory evidence I am assuming this to be correct)